As we wrap up Christmas 2001, and head towards the New Year, I thought it would be fun to finish off the festive season with an article on mistletoe. And just in case you got missed, instead of kissed under the mistletoe at Christmas, there is still time to get kissed on New Years Eve!
Mistletoe's origin is most interesting. The word itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon, and it means "dung-on-a-twig!" This makes a lot of sense, too, since mistletoe does grow from bird droppings. The ancients believed that life could spring spontaneously from dung!
Botanically, mistletoe is an evergreen, parasitic shrub, growing on branches or trunks of trees. It grows roots that penetrate the tree, and forms bushes from 2 to 5 feet in diameter. But mistletoe, being a parasite, does not have the usual root system of other plants. Instead, it draws all its nutrients and water from the host tree. Mistletoe is highly toxic, and should be kept out of the reach of children and pets. Mistletoe's branching woody stems bear yellowish leathery leaves. The small whitish flowers appear from May to July, maturing into fleshy white berries in December, containing one single seed each.
In North America, mistletoe grows primarily on elms, maples, tulip poplars, apple trees and occasionally on oaks. Mistletoe prefers to grow on bottomland trees, because it needs moisture in the air to germinate. So trees that grow in humid spots will have a lot of mistletoe, especially if they are used as bird roosts.
Mistletoe is spread by birds, which eat the plants plump berries. The seeds in the berries remain intact and pass through the birds. Since the seeds have a sticky material on the surface, it causes them to stick to the limbs of the trees, where they take hold and germinate, under the right conditions. Mistletoe will generally not kill a healthy tree, but it will take some nutrients from it.
The mistletoe was surrounded with an aura of awe throughout the ancient world from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. Romans, Celts, and Germanic people believed it was the key to the supernatural. The primitive mind believed that death's opposite was sex and fertility, and since the mistletoe sprung from dung, it possessed life-giving power. The Druids, members of an ancient British religion, believed the mistletoe descended from the sky in a flash of lightning, alighting on the sacred oak. They considered the mistletoe sacred and that it had miraculous properties, which could cure illnesses, serve as an antidote against poison, ensure fertility and protect against witchcraft.
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